Man City Three Goals to Nil Manchester United: Hemp on target in City dominant win.

Just as bad weather tore through the north-west the prior day, Manchester City blew United away at the their home ground. It was a statement three goal victory for their manager's side thanks to goals from Rebecca Knaak, Bunny Shaw and Hemp. It was a performance that truly announced their championship potential as they strengthened their place at the league summit.

Successive Defeats for Manchester United

This outcome signalled back-to-back league losses for Marc Skinner’s side for the initial occasion since last May, putting them a sizable gap off the league leaders with their championship aspirations in serious doubt.

Manchester United's capability to juggle league and European football with a thin roster has been a hotly discussed topic since they qualified for the European competition. Considering the schedule, it always appeared this was the period that would fully examine this fortitude. Regrettably for the opposition, they looked weary all game, the landmark win against Paris Saint-Germain clearly having taken a toll.

Team Changes

The United manager had tried to rotate the squad with a handful of alterations. Ella Toone, Elisabeth Terland, Dominique Janssen and Galton all brought freshness, although the exclusion of the on-form Melvine Malard to the sidelines was questioned.

Manchester City, in comparison, have fewer fitness issues. The City coach made one change from their most recent win over the Toffees with Hemp making her initial starting appearance since returning from a fitness issue.

Commanding Opening Period

The pressure started to build for the United boss and his team from the kickoff. This was a show of the power from City whose energetic forward line controlled and pulled the visitors apart with a superb initial 45 minutes performance that saw them put three past the keeper in under half an hour.

This put the hosts in a commanding position and saw the visitors disorganized. Before this fixture, the away side had conceded just a handful in this WSL season but they fell apart in the presence of the hosts' creative prowess.

Early Chances

The warning signs came soon when Vivianne Miedema used her physicality to push Julia Zigiotti off the ball, only to send her shot off target. Lauren Hemp was at the core of everything from the start, taking advantage of the room left by Riviere down the visitors' right side. Her passes were creating danger and led to an chance for Hasegawa that Anna Sandberg kicked off the line.

United had multiple forays forwards, their long-ball tactic giving them options in the wide areas but they could not trouble the City goalkeeper. City, in the meantime, controlled the ball, taunting their rivals and trying to lure them of their defensive shape.

Triple Strike

They made their pressure count with almost the first period played when Fujino won the hosts a set-piece. A delivery to the far post was nodded across goal by Shaw for Rebecca Knaak to score. It was Manchester City's seventh headed goal of the term.

They extended their cushion with another pair of goals just before the interval. When Jade Rose was permitted to maraud through the center from defense, the field widened for City. The prominent Casparij collected the pass on the right before sending a precise ground pass for Shaw to force home. Shortly later, they had a third after a quick turnover in the ball saw Lauren Hemp afforded the opportunity to fire a shot home from range.

Final Period

The clearest change came from the United manager at the interval as Malard was introduced for Terland but by this time it was ineffective to shift the momentum of the contest. Former City player Jess Park came most likely to score, rattling the upright, but the visitors were creatively abject and failed to register a solitary shot on goal.

The hosts, in contrast, could have added to their lead when a delightful Miedema through ball sent Bunny Shaw away only for her to miss the chance but it was insignificant to the winning team. Having failed to beat any team who finished above them the previous campaign, the manager's side now have victories against Arsenal and Manchester United to place them in a commanding situation after nine matches.